Here’s what you can and can’t put down your drains

The stakes are high. You have gathered your family together for a memorable evening. You’ve baked a turkey, and other family favorite dishes. Some family members came from out of town and you want them telling the stories for years to come.

You don’t want that story to include the great food flood.

This holiday season, make sure you are putting the right things down the drain, and everything else in the trash where it belongs.

No draining without straining

The first rule of keeping your drains flowing smoothly while you are cooking is to keep solids from getting in the pipes. As much as possible, involve everyone in straining and scraping plates and bowls and pans.

Even if you have a garbage disposal, following this rule can help save you time and energy this holiday season and beyond.

This is true for certain food scraps that many people often put down their garbage disposal. Certain foods that are especially noted to have tough fibers should be avoided, including celery, potato peels, and some kinds of onions. The goal is to keep your disposal from having to work too hard, or getting plant fiber wrapped around something possibly burning out the engine.

It’s like the classic phrase we all learned as children: An ounce of prevention saves $140/hr holiday plumbing.

It’s Easy : No grease-y

A common mistake many cooks make is forgetting that often grease and oil are the cause of backups. Oil and fat can create challenging clogs that require a professional plumber.

In your kitchen, use an old soup can or other container that can handle extreme temperatures. Make sure to pour excess grease, oil, and fat into this container rather than down your drain.

If you must dump oil down the drain, or if you forgot and want to fix it, follow up with a mix of hot water and dish soap. This can be as simple as dumping your handwashing dish basin down the drain when you’ve finished handwashing. This allows a chaser of oil cutting detergent to limit the harm done by dumping grease.

Keep your disposal clear

And finally, take good care of your disposal.

Run water in it when using it, and let the water run a few seconds after the disposal turns off. Periodically run warm soapy water down while disposing.

With these tips in mind, you can keep the family from discussing the great holiday flood at your house!

Photo by Kelly: https://www.pexels.com/photo/kitchen-sink-below-window-pane-2796103/